1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a display device.
2. Discussion of the Background
Display devices which are widely used currently include a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode display, an electrophoretic display, and the like.
A display device includes a plurality of pixels and a plurality of display signal lines. Each pixel includes a switching element and a pixel electrode connected thereto, and the switching element is connected with the display signal line. The display signal lines include gate lines transmitting gate signals and data lines transmitting data signals. The pixel electrode receives the data signal through the switching element, such as a thin film transistor, according to a gate signal. The gate signal is generated in a gate driver according to a control of a signal controller to be outputted to a plurality of gate lines, and the data signal may be acquired when a data driver receives a digital image signal from the signal controller to convert the digital image signal into a data voltage.
The pixel electrode, the switching element, and the like may be formed on a display panel. The signal controller is generally positioned outside the display panel and may be provided on a printed circuit board (PCB) connected with the display panel. Further, the data driver may be directly installed on the display panel in at least one IC chip form (chip on glass, COG, etc.), or may be installed on a flexible printed circuit film (FPC) to be attached to the display panel in a tape carrier package (TCP) form (chip on FPC, COF). In the case of the COF, the flexible printed circuit film (FPC) may be positioned between the printed circuit board (PCB) and the display panel.
At least one data driving circuit chip included in the data driver includes a plurality of channels capable of outputting the data signal. In the case where the number of data lines formed on the display panel and the number of channels included in all of the data driving circuit chips are not the same as each other, dummy channels that do not substantially output the data signals among the channels of the data driving circuit chips may be included.
Recently, a demand for a display device having a small peripheral area which is positioned around a display area displaying an image of the display panel has increased. When each of the data driving circuit chips used in one display device have the same number of dummy channels, there is a limit to a layout of the data driving circuit chips, and as a result, the peripheral area of the display panel may be increased.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.